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Wednesday, March 04, 2009

House Update: Schoolroom finished!

Slowly but surely we are starting to finish rooms in the addition of our house. I am delighted tobe able to announce that our school room/meeting room/den is "mostly finished!" We still need to install one more door, and I would like to put curtains on the window (alas, the Briarwood curtains I won on ebay never arrived from England -- the first time an international purchase has gone tragically wrong on me. I keep praying they'll show up unexpectedly, but it's been since August...!) but for now, the room is done!

I am much indebted to the girls who attended the Fairy Tale Novel Fan Gathering 08 at my home. One of them had the idea of transforming the landscapes I had planned to put around the room into vistas of Middle Earth. So now Hobbiton (which I painted) resides over the blackboard...

And Minas Tirith, Edoras, and Orthanc's tower are dimly visible above the armoire. On the very top photo, you can catch a glimpse of Rivendell. Someday I'll have to get a ladder and flash and go around and get better pictures of all of these, for the sake of the girls who painted them. By the way, the matching doors came from our handyman, who scavenged them here and there for us: I can't believe he managed to find *two* doors with large windows in them! The solid door I bought for a song at Habitat for Humanity. And my dear husband created the blackboard for me with trim and paint.

I'm also indebted to our family friend John Robinson, who owns a carpet business and has kept my parents and siblings and I well stocked with carpet extras whenever we need them. I was delighted when he gave me these industrial carpet tiles, leftovers from a grade school library. They were easy to install, and I love their bright patterns. I've been in love with industrial carpet ever since I was a janitor in college and had to vacuum every day: while I might dream of Oriental rugs, I love living with the short, tough tight weave of commercial carpeting. Thanks so much, John!

So at long last I have my meeting room. Two weeks ago, I had a chance to use it to host our John Paul 2 High meeting (Book Two: Trespasses Against Us is coming out at last! Hooray!). It was so nice to have a blackboard and bulletin board to help keep track of plot points. And yes, I've used it for homeschooling (occasionally!) as well. Three rooms down --six to go!

Oh, Regina, I love it! My kids are absolutely jealous! You would think we live in Middle Earth if you listen to the conversation around here... we would be quite at home in your schoolroom. :)Blessings,Kristyn

Purpose

How can you be an artist when you're a busy mom or dad who doesn't have much time to write novels or paint pictures or compose sonatas? This is the dilemma for the beauty-lover who wants to help build a culture of life but just doesn't have time.

What can be done is to try to make our homes our art, for our families.

Please don't imagine that perfection lies outside the margins of these photographs. When I share images and thoughts, it's not to erect an ideal standard, but to share what inspires me.

Since I post so very "occasionally" these days, I invite you to keep up with House Art Journal by becoming a follower or subscribing to the RSS feed for this blog below. Thank you for continuing to read my journal!